Australian Skinks in Cape York

This is
the largest group of
reptiles in Australia,
with at least 375 species.

They are also very
common to see
in Cape York - if there is a little lizard walking in the
leaf
litter, most likely
it is some kind of skink.

The largest, and best known, are of course the blue tongue skinks, but
there are many, many more smaller ones.

Blue
Tongue
Skink
The best known Australian skinks, blue
tongue skinks are found in
northern Australia, and the eastern blue tongue skinks Tiliqua scincoides
are found in
north Queensland and on the southern Cape York peninsula,
between Cooktown in the north and Cardwell in the south.

by Pip_Wilson via Flickr.com

Pink
Tongue
Skink
Similar to blue tongue skinks, these beautiful Australian skinks are
found along the eastern
coast of Australia, in the areas in and around Cairns, Ingham and
Mackay in north Queensland, and even Sydney in New South Wales. Pattern
and looks similar to the species above; juveniles can have stronger
banding.

by Arthur Chapman via Flickr.com

Major
and
Yakka
Skinks
Both stocky, with almost stumpy tails, and no cross banding or quite as
triangular heads as the species above. Major skink is found in
rainforests, woodlands and open forests from Torres Strait in the north
and New South Wales border in the south. Yakka skink is found in dry
open forest from eastern Cape York peninsula to south east Queensland.

Eastern
Water Skink
Eastern water skink Eulamprus
quoyiiis
found between Cooktown and Mackay in Queensland, as well as in Victoria
and South Australia. Related Australian skinks we have in Queensland
are Eulamprus tigrinus,
Eulamprus luteilateralis,
Eulamprus
brachysoma, Eulamprus
sokosoma, Eulamprus
frerei, and Eulamprus
tenuis.

By
Bill & Mark Bell via
Flickr.com

Dwarf
Skinks
There are two species of dwarf Australian skinks in tropical north
Queensland - Menetia
sadlieri
and Menetia timlowi.

Both are
found
from north eastern to southern Queensland, the first on
Magnetic Island outside Townsville, and the second near Mt Garnet in
the southern Cape York peninsula.

By Jeff_Black via Flickr.com

Fire
Tailed
Skinks
Fire tailed skink, Morethia
taeniopleura, some of the most beautiful Australian
skinks, with
a brown body, red tail
and a darker stripe, surrounded by narrower, white stripes, along the
sides of its body. It lives in woodlands of north Queensland,
from Cooktown in the north to Bowen in the south.

Sun
SkinksSun
skinks belong to Lampropholis
and Lerista
species, and in north
eastern Queensland we have Lampropholis
delicata (Mt Molloy to Mackay), Lampropholis robertsi
(Cooktown to
Ravenshoe), Lampropholis
adonis,
coggeri and
mirabilis
(south of Cape York); as
well as Lerista
colliveri and
Lerista zonulata (south of Cape York peninsula).

By
beastiepix via Flickr.com

Shade
Skinks
Shade skinks are Saproscincus
species and the ones found in Cape York area include Saproscincus
basilicus (Roaring Meg Falls to Cape Tribulation),
Saproscincus
lewisi (Helenvale to Cape Tribulation, and Saproscincus
tetradactylus (Mossman Gorge to Paluma Range National
Park).

Worm
Skinks
Worm skinks belong to Anomalopus
species, and what they have in common is that they have very small,
short or absent limbs. In north eastern Queensland we have Anomalopus
gowi (Mt Garnet, Townsville area), Anomalopus brevicollis,
and Anomalopus verreauxi
(both roughly
in Mackay and Clermont area).

Blue Tongue
Skinks

Blue
tongue skinks are the largest of all Australian skinks.

They are
slow moving and
easy to get close to - they don't run away but stick out their impressive tongue
when threatened.

You may well see one on your travels, basking
in the sun in the mornings or foraging in the midday heat
and
afternoons.

They could bite
when picked up,
but they are not
poisonous.

Skinks is a very large group of reptiles in Australia, with 300
members, and blue tongues
are
the largest members of the group.There are
six species of blue
tongue skinks in Australia: Eastern(Tiliqua
scincoides scincoides, aka Common), Western(Tiliqua
occipitalis), Northern(Tiliqua scincoides intermedia), Blotched(Tiliqua
nigrolutea), Pygmy(Tiliqua adelaidensis)
and Shingleback(Tiliqua rugosa).

They have
a large head,
small
legs and feet, and
a bulky body
that can grow up
to 45cm in length (but most often less).

They have a fat tail
where
their spare food and water is stored.

Their body is creamy to grey with a pattern of brown stripes on their
smooth, overlapping scales.

And most
famously, they have a bright
pink
mouth and a bright
blue tongue,
which emerges when the animal feels threatened.

Behaviour of Blue
Tongued Skinks

Like most
other reptiles, they
don't produce own body heat but
depend on the outside temperature.

That is why you see them sun
basking
early in the mornings, when the air is not too hot and not
too
cool.

When it gets hotter
in the
middle of the day and early afternoons they
become more active and get around foraging.

When it's cool
at night time,
they become inactive
and sleep
in their hideaways.

Food, Prey and Predators

They eat both plant
parts and small
animals, such as insects, caterpillars and smaller lizards, whatever
they can get.

Snails are their favourites (probably because they are slow and easy to
catch), and blue tongue skinks have got strong jaws to break their
shells.

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around, where
to stay (general info), what
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and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.

This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my partner
Mark who is the recovery guy on northern Cape York and the Old
Telegraph Track).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)

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As of Winter - Spring 2018 this site is getting upgraded, and the domain name changedfrom the original www.cape-york-australia.com to the new www.capeyorkaustralia.comWhile this is happening, you will find some things under construction, and some photos blurrier than normal, as their new dimensions affect their quality (until they get changed).They need changing one by one - with hundreds of pages it will take some time before the whole site looks good again, but I am gradually working on it as quick as I can.

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